Review: “The Perfect Storm” by Seek The Fallen

To some, a Metalcore trio from St. Neots in Cambridgeshire may seem like an odd concept. Not to David Bartolome, Sam Morritt and Will Morritt, collectively known as Seek The Fallen. Following a series of standalone singles and covers including “O.G Loko” by Of Mice & Men and perhaps surprisingly “Rockstar” by Post Malone, the trio got in some help from J.T Cavey of Erra, Paul Batolome and Jim Dummer of V/Vega for their debut full length album.

Starting with an obviously Erra inspired tune in “Through Hell” and then getting in J.T Cavey from the band themselves seems like a master stroke. Putting the tune as the albums opening is perhaps a bold choice. The song itself showcases some Metalcore standard riffs with hints at Tech-Metal and a very wide range of vocal talents. Aside from the obvious, the melodic bridge is wonderful. It’s a solid and statement making opening. “Waves” has some clear Nu-Metal inspired lyrics and a chorus that leans on “Sempiternal” era Bring Me The Horizon both in vocal styling and lyrical content. There are several big low gutteral vocal flourishes that seem to be an attempt to make the song heavier than it perhaps needs to be. “Metamorphosis” continues the transformation and style blending by bringing a very musically sparse and meloncholic atmosphere with aching clean vocals before a chugging gutiar driven chorus. After the opening ceremony of “Through Hell” it’s a real surprise but a heavier bridge to the final verse manges to lift things.

“Better Days” brings home some more driven riffs and powerhouse unclean vocals that are in such a stark contrast during the opening verse that you might think this is a different band. The chorus brings back the clean vocals for a short passage before returning to the perhaps slightly forced uncleans. The lead gutar flourishes are impressive and a powerful breakdown mid song underpinned by buried synths is a marvel. “Murder” features guest vocals from Paul Bartolome and takes us into a modern version of “Hybrid Theory” era Linkin Park complete with Grime esq rapping. It’s big chorus is designed for the sing-a-long and the whole thing has that air of familiarity about it that makes you think you’ve heard it before. “If You Think This Song Is About You…”  Steps us back into the heavier territory for the opening verse but then dives into a rapid fire clean chorus before breaking back for the following verse. The song is so lyrically full that there is barely any space for breath. The use of a drop to a whisper that builds up into full swing vocal for the closing is a nice touch.

“Drowning” features Jim Dummer of V/Vega and from its off kilter Ghost and Ghouls inspired keyboards that build into some decent guitar work, it’s actually one of the strongest cuts on the album. The chorus is clean sung but has a more traditional style to it and is such a big sing-a-long that a decent label could really push it a long way. “3 Words” takes us into a more melodic territory with meloncholic atmospheric opening and another big chorus. A song about the breakup of a relationship is broken up itself by the introduction of some more traditional Metalcore lead guitar work before a mid song heavy breakdown bridge that has a satisfying crunch. The commercial end of Metal and the Falling In Reverses and Escape The Fates of this world will be loving this. “The Curse of Mary Shaw” has a darker atmospheric opening before bursting into that heavier sound that the band have within them. The guitar work is a big step up and Avenged Sevenfold inspired while the chorus will no doubt be a live favourite. There are earlier a couple of “Blegh!” moments but this one features the most sustained gutteral scream passage the band have in them.

“Countdown” continues the heavier guitar work with some driven riffs before an opening rap-scream verse. The kit work is also a step up with some powerhouse rhythms and driving footwork on show. “Lift Up The World” continues the flow for the first time on the album with some consistency. The album at times sounds like a mixed bag of tracks in different styles that break up the flow of the offering a lot. That maybe down to the way it’s been recorded but it comes across as perhaps a band struggling to find their identity and experimenting to help find it. “Waves (Stripped Back)” is a simple acoustic version of the track that while tasteful and laid back doesn’t really do much for the album as a whole. As a standalone track you might be wowed by the strength of the clean vocals. [6/10]

1. “Through Hell” ft. J.T Cavey of Erra
2. “Waves”
3. “Metamorphosis”
4. “Better Days”
5. “Murder” ft. Paul Bartolome
6. “If You Think This Song Is About You…”
7. “Drowning” ft. Jim Dummer of V/Vega
8. “3 Words”
9. “The Curse of Mary Shaw”
10. “Countdown”
11. “Lift Up The World”
12. “Waves (Stripped Back)”

“The Perfect Storm” by Seek The Fallen is out now